Old-Fashioned Cocoa from Scratch

My family just loves the rich flavor of old fashioned cocoa made from scratch. Scratch means you start with basic ingredients and go from there. I love it, because I always have the ingredients on hand. We're always ready for a cocoa fix. My kids will have the memory of Momma over the stove stirring the cocoa. They come running when they hear the sound the whisk makes in the pan. Here’s how I make mine. All you need is Hershey’s cocoa, sugar, milk and a bit of water.

Old-Fashioned Cocoa from Scratch

1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of cold water
Enough milk to fill 3 quart saucepan

• Combine 1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa and 1 cup of white sugar in a three quart saucepan using a wire whisk.  I do this while the cocoa and sugar are still dry so that the cocoa will mix in nice and smooth without a bunch of lumps.

• Add about 1/3 cup of cold water and mix until smooth.  Bring to a boil and continue to boil it for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Don’t worry if it sticks to the sides, it’ll melt back into the cocoa as it heats up.

• Fill the pan with milk, It”ll be a little more than a half a gallon of milk.  Stir and heat using  medium heat.  If you need to walk away from it, just turn it on the lowest heat.   I check to see if it’s hot enough by dropping in a miniature marshmallow.  It’s ready when the marshmallow just starts to melt.  I offer extra milk to my little ones to cool it if they want it.

This is so easy, we can make it any time we want it.  Read aloud time is one of our favorite times to enjoy Old Fashioned Cocoa.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Blessings,
Laura
Happy to be Back Home

Pinned It ~ Did It

Just thought I'd show you some things we pinned and did or made this year at Harvest Lane Cottage.

Follow Laura's board Pinned It Made It on Pinterest.

Wonder what we'll do next year?

Enjoy!
Laura
Happy at Home



Shared: 
Monday Mom's the Word - Clever Chicks - Modest Mondays -  The Art of Homemaking    -  A Mama's Story  - Good Morning Monday
Homestead Barn Hop -Tuesday A Return to Loveliness  - Time to Sparkle - You're Gonna Love it Tuesday 
Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesday - Wonderful Wednesdays - - Fluster's Creative Muster 
Thursday
 Think Tank Thursdays 

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #31

Amy Lane Photography c 2014

It's been a whirlwind of activity around here lately.  In addition to Kringling, we've been decorating a bit more, making cake balls for the first time (yum), and getting the restaurant ready to close for the season.  Here's my thrifty week:

~ Mended my daughter's black pants.

~ Let out elastic in my daughter's dance pants
.
~ I searched until I found a very good quality item I needed for Christmas for a good price.  Wish I could share, but someone reads my blog. ~wink~

~ I found a brand new something that another someone is going to love for $4.99 at the thrift store with $29.99 tag still on it!  Woo hoo! Right size.  Right color.  Right on!

~ I purchased some stocking stuffers at the dollar store.

~ I ate at home one night while I was alone instead of going out for fast food.

~ I received a new Bible for review.  I'm looking for one with space to write notes during church.

~ My daughter, Emily, made cake balls with a cake mix she received as a gift and things we had on hand.
~ I made a thrifty lunch of potato soup.

~ Altogether, I think I've spent around $125 - $150 for gifts this year for our family of six.  It was nearly all tip money, change, and a few odd dollars here and there that I have squirreled away since October.   God has blessed me with good sales and a family that doesn't mind second hand.Thank you God.

~ I'll be giving dishcloths as gifts to some friends.  I wrapped them all up yesterday with raffia that I had on hand.  I purchased it at a garage sale last summer for next to nothing.

I'm almost done with my shopping.  I've got a couple more items and some gift wrap to buy.  I tend to underestimate how much I'll need each year.  Last night my husband told me that he's going to buy some small gifts for the kids, too. Yay!

Well, it's time to get ready for church.  My daughters, Emily and Amy, are performing in a Christmas dance today.

Enjoy the moments!
Blessings,
Laura

~~~~~

May I suggest?

A Thrifty Week #24

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Ghosts of Christmas Past

There's such a tendency to think about the past at Christmastime.  We have sweet memories of loved ones that have gone on before us.  We have traditions and maybe even rituals that we might not even realize we have.  That can be a good thing for holding families together and making them strong.  But not all of our memories or traditions are positive.  We may be left with a longing for the way things used to be before circumstances changed or certain people came into or left our lives for some reason.  Some of us may be facing an empty nest for the first time or a parent or spouse or child may have died recently, this year, last year, or twenty years ago.  Christmastime makes it all fresh again, doesn't it?  

"Take every thought captive and do not allow the

Sorrows or ghost of Christmas past, rob you of this one!"

Roxy at Living from Glory to Glory, 

Let's make a decision to live in this moment, to love this moment, to enjoy those with whom we're with right now or to enjoy the solitude of being alone with God.

Enjoy memories of Christmas past, but don't let the ghosts of memories spoil Christmas present.

Have a wonderful Christmas week!

Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage

Laura

~~~~~

May I suggest?

Everything Christmas

~~~~~

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #30

Copyright Amy Lane Photography

It was a busy week.  I worked every day at the restaurant.  We had sick employees every day. I filled in for them.  It comes with being married to the owner. ~smile~  In one more week, we'll close for the season.  I'll have two or more months to practice being even more thrifty and frugal than I usually am. God is always faithful to take care of us.  Many times He provides in miraculous ways.  Thank you, God.  Here's how I was thrifty and frugal this past week:

~ I bought two unopened rolls of nice wrapping paper for a dollar at the thrift store.

~ I ordered a DVD that my child wished for from Swap A DVD.



~ I bought 50 lbs of potatoes at Aldi for $5.95.  We don't usually eat many white potatoes, but we're getting ready to go into a season where I'll need to be extra thrifty.  Our income this winter will be irregular at best.

~ I found some stocking stuffers at Dollar Tree.

~ I bought a pair of heavy work pants for my son at Salvation Army for $5.

~ Amy found holly in the yard and brought several sprigs in to decorate the house.

~ I bought 15 lbs of sweet potatoes for $4.95.

~ I earned a free book credit by sending a book through Paperback Swap.



~ I reused our artificial tree.

~ I made dishcloths from yarn that was given to me.

~ I filled up my gas tank for $2.17 a gallon.  Woo hoo!

~ I ordered a Bible to review in exchange for a free copy.

Well, that's all I can think of right now.  I encourage you to keep your eyes out for deals and make do ways to make Christmas for your loved ones.

Happy Kringling!

Blessings,
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

This Post Featured at

Away in a Manger... Not Just a Christmas Carol

Used with permission. Click for credit.

When I was a little girl, a very little girl, my mommy used to sing Away in a Manger to me as a lullaby.  It wasn't until I was much older that I learned that it was a Christmas carol.  It holds a special place in my heart.

I loved to listen to my mom sing.  We sang often as I grew up.  We sang while driving in the car, while we worked, while we were sitting around with nothing to do.  It was a wonderful pastime. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I lost my song... not a certain song, but the desire to sing and sing and sing.  Perhaps it was when she died young. Perhaps it was the hardships of life.  Perhaps it was something else.  I don't really know.  I'm asking God to give me back my song.

Away in a Manger seems a good place to begin.

Happy Christmas!

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

~~~~~

May I suggest?

A Scary Christmas Memory ~ Second Grade

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A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #29

Dear Reader,
     I suppose you're right in the thick of preparing for Christmas.  There are so many things we do that get us all too busy to enjoy the season.  I do hope you take time to relax with your family and friends.  Think about what's really important to you.  Let a few things go.  It's okay.

Here's how I've been frugal in my home recently:
   
~  Wrote review Awaken Love
~  Bought 6 packages of chicken thighs marked $2 off
~  Ordered gifts on-line at Amazon totaling more than $35 to get free shipping
~  Used a redemption code HOLIDAY30 to get 30% off one book at Amazon.  I don't know if the code is still good or not.
~  Saved gas by shopping on-line
~  Saved hundreds of dollars by not going to the medical doctor but going to the herbalist doctor instead.
~  Downloaded free Christmas books for my Kindle
~  Made do with that I had for meals

I hope you have a thrifty week!  Be creative.  There are all kinds of ways to save money.  Need some ideas?  My most popular post of all time can give you forty ways.

Blessings!
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

It's How You Look at It... A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

"Then Pa and Ma and Mr. Edwards sat by the fire 

and talked about Christmas times back in Tennessee and up north in the Big Woods. But Mary and Laura looked at their beautiful cakes and played with their pennies and drank water out of their new cups. And little by little they licked and sucked their sticks of candy, till each stick was sharp-pointed on one end. That was a happy Christmas."

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Little House On The Prairie," page 252

It's all in how you look at it, isn't it?

Enjoy what you have, where you are, whom you are with now.

Blessings,

Laura

Favorite First Lines... A Christmas Carol

“Marley was dead, to begin with ... This must be distintly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”  

A Christmas Carol  by Charles Dickens

I watch George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol nearly every year.  I also enjoy Focus on the Family's Radio Theater version as well.  Even so, nothing truly compares with reading the book.

Advent Blessings!
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage